Discord
by accentcore8
Summary: 3 years after graduating, the 2-9ers are together by an unfortunate death. The group soon finds that their misfortune doesn't stop there, and that not everything is coincidental in a world full of accidents. As death hovers over the group like a plague, they struggle to fix the discord between their world and the next. Rated M for language, violence, and possible sexual encounters.
1. Prologue

He took a cautious step into the cold room, the lack of heat startling him even though there were candles everywhere in the room. The multiple flames swayed back and forth so much it seemed as if the candles themselves would fall down.

The old wood creaked underneath his feet as he walked through the center of the room. The musty smell did nothing to ease his nerves as he heard a thud from the other side of the room. Turning around quickly, he sighed in relief to see it wasn't one the many lit candles, but an old flashlight that seemingly fell on its switch and turned on.

"What the hell...?" He muttered, staring at the right wall. There were runes of all kinds covering the wall, among various other images, and they were all done in a substance that appeared to be blood. Cringing from the sight, he continued on to the little door that was barely visible in the dim light.

The door creaked on its hinges, and a huge gust of air hit him in the face the moment he stepped into the hidden room. Feeling the wind go past him, he checked to see if any of the candles in the adjoining room were put out by the strong gust; thankfully, none were. Oddly enough, this room was lit by a faint ceiling light.

The man could see various pictures hung on the 3 main walls of the room, but most of them were blurred or pictured something similar to the runes on the other wall. All of this, however, was completely indecipherable to him. In the middle of the room was a small round table that was covered in books and the surrounding floor was strewn with loose papers. All in all, the room was a mess. But he knew the object of his interest was in here; there was no other place but here.

Walking over to the table he inspected many of the books, but seeing as how they weren't important to him, he placed them on the floor next to one the table's legs. After about an hour of searching, he finally came across the book he was looking for; the Book of Shadows. Its distinctive cover should of stood out to him, and he wondered why it didn't immediately show itself.

A loud boom of thunder and the crack of lightning from outside caused the man to jump from his spot on the ground. The light from the ceiling light went out and he froze. Reaching his hand into his pocket for a knife, he drew it out, ready to attack, when suddenly the lights turned back on. Sighing in relief, he stood up, dusting off his pants.

"Damn lightning...wonder if it was your doing, Book of Shadows?" He muttered to himself. Tightly grasping the book in hands, he took note that the candles also went out, and shook his head. "Now I'll have to go through there without any lighting."

He turned around to take one last glance at the room before feeling his heart pound at the speed of light; on the back wall, a very bloody magic circle was painted, surrounded by another set of different runes and images of dead people. The circle began glowing, and he took a step back towards the door.

"What...is...what's going on?!" Confused, the man ran out the room and into the dark adjoining room. Suddenly, all of the candles lit up, and the runes on the right wall also began to glow. It almost seemed as if they were rising off the wall towards the man. "I-I don't understand! Why is this happening?! Did you really...?" He glanced at the book in hands, to which it immediately began vibrating furiously. The book's eyes lit up and a long tongue came out of one of the holes on the cover and wrapped around his hand.

Frantic, the man tried shaking the book off of his hand, but to no avail. "Get off! L-let go of me, you damned book!" He screamed, eyes wide in terror. The book fell to the ground, and he breathed in relief, but then felt a sudden pain in his back. "AARGHH!"

His back began bleeding profusely, and the man struggled to see what had attacked him, only to see a rune fly at him just in time to dodge it. The rune exploded in mid-air, and he heard the book growl.

"**Spent all that time searching for me, for what? Did you foolishly think I'd let you leave **_**here**_**, of all places, with **_**me**_**?" **Laughing loudly, the book began to rise in the air. Grinning madly, tongue flying about, he shrieked, "**DIE!" **

The man in question froze, not knowing how to react. The Book of Shadows was speaking. To him, and was telling him to die, no less. "W-wait, p-please, I-I...don't kill me," he ended softly. The light from the candles grew brighter and the runes centered themselves over the man's hands. He lie on the ground, shaking, and he stared at the sight in front of him; bright lights and a floating book. In his mind, he thought he was already dead, however the moment the first candle fell he screamed.

"Please, no! You...you cant! NOOOOOOOO!" One by one, the candles fell, and the runes disappeared along with the book. Slowly, the wooden room lit on fire, and the man lit up with it. He writhed on the floor, clinging to the slowly draining life force he had. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! IT HURTS!"

Soon, he was unable to even mutter a noise. However before he disappeared forever, he was able to mutter a few words before the last ounce of his life was charred along with his body.

"Shinozaki...this house..."

* * *

**This is the prologue for my new multi-chaptered fic. I don't know how many chapters it will have in total, but I already have the first actual chapter written out. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the plot; I wrote them separately, and they originally had no relation. Even now, I'm still struggling to actually connect them or post them as two separate stories. Eh, we'll see how it goes, and then I'll decided if I should make them different. For now, let me know how you felt about this as a prologue in the reviews! (And yes, this is rated M. I'm taking a step out of comfort zone and doing something I've always been too nervous to try.) **


	2. Funeral

Holding on to her umbrella tightly to stop it from blowing away in the strong wind, Ayumi Shinozaki checked her watch for the thousandth time. Her blue-black hair was tied into a single ponytail and her bangs stuck to her face do to the rainy weather. The young woman wore a simple knee-length black dress and a beige trench coat. Her black heels loudly clicked on the sidewalk as she paced in circles in the corner.

Shaking her head underneath her umbrella, Ayumi adjusted the small bag on her shoulder and sighed. "It's freezing out here..." She pulled out her phone from her purse and scrolled through her contacts. "Here we go." Putting it to her ear, she waited for the call to go through.

"Hello?" The person on the other end answered. Ayumi tapped her foot impatiently and looked at her watch again. "Do you know what time it is?"

A moment of silence before the voice answered, "7:42. Why?"

"Why?" She screeched, "Because I left the funeral home an hour ago! That's why! You were supposed to pick me up, asshole!"

The voice coughed before grunting. "So? Calm down woman, it's not like that's really a long time."

Ayumi felt like pulling her phone apart at the man on the other line. "Kiriya, just come and pick me up. Please?" She began walking over to one of the few benches in the area and sat down, adjusting her umbrella accordingly. The male on the other line laughed snobbishly, "Sure, thing, Shinozaki." After that, he abruptly hung up. She rubbed her arms in a feeble attempt to warm up. Ayumi swung her legs back and forth like a child, as her feet wouldn't touch the ground fully because her short height; she was only 4'11''.

Finally, a sleek black car pulled up to the curb and the window rolled down. "Hurry the fuck up, kid, it's pouring out." Angrily, she ran as best as she could in her heels to the car, and threw the passenger door open. "Shut up! You're the one who made me wait in the rain for over an hour! And stop cursing!Now hurry, I wanna go home," she complained as she buckled in her seat belt.

Keeping quiet for once, Misuto pulled off, occasionally eyeing the smaller girl to his right; nothing special in his judgment. Seeing his looks at her, Ayumi glared back. "Stop staring at me, pervert." She muttered. He laughed loudly at her this time. "Me? A pervert? Besides, you have nothing worth looking like that, _little girl_," he sneered. Shocked into silence, Ayumi looked down at her lap and frowned.

"I don't know what the hell Hinoe sees in you..." She mumbled. Now, it was Misuto's turn to be silent, and the small girl smiled at her little victory.

The door to the Shinozaki household was swung open, and the sound of arguing voices could be heard. In her room, Hinoe shook her head and giggled. Deep down, she knew somewhere the two held slight care for another, it was just really hard to see. As she exited her room and began walking down the stairs, she could see her little sister and her colleague arguing loudly over something trivial.

"-that isn't a reason to leave me in the pouring rain for an _hour_!" She could her Ayumi shout. Misuto began walking away from the short girl in response, irritation obviously on his face. "I didn't know it was raining," he simply said.

"Oh, so that's your excuse?" He kept walking, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them again to see Hinoe leaning on the wall in the living room. "Oh, hey Hinoe." He waved. She frowned and waved at him. Ayumi walked through the doorway to see her older sister.

"Ayumi, what's wrong?" She embraced her older sister, and Hinoe could feel the dampness of her sister's skin. "That jerk over there forgot to pick me up from the funeral home, so I was stuck in the downpour until he decided to answer his stupid phone. Which was an hour." Hinoe turned around and frowned at Misuto.

He simply shrugged. "She's here, isn't she? I'm going home, catch you later Hinoe." He picked up his bag by the door and left.

Inside the house, Hinoe rubbed Ayumi's back for comfort. "Go shower, and then we can talk about how it went, alright?" Ayumi put her head down and nodded. She began the walk upstairs and felt tears coming to her eyes. Quickly, she ran into her room before they could fall.

As she sat in the tub, she reflected on what happened earlier that day. She had been at a joint service for two of her friends who had passed away. Morishige Sakutaro and Suzumoto Mayu had both died a few week ago on the same day. They had went to school with her back in Kisaragi, although during their 2nd year, Mayu transferred to a neighboring school. Even after the transfer, Mayu had always been one of Ayumi's closest friends. About a week ago, Mayu was found murdered in her apartment and Morishige's body was found next to her's.

A video of the whole ordeal was also found hidden underneath Mayu, and for some reason, the two grieving families thought it would be okay for all attending the service to view it. Ayumi shivered just remembering it. Mayu was ripped apart, her remains spilling all over the floor. The person who did it was unknown because his back was facing the camera. The second video showed Morishige screaming that it was his fault that Mayu was dead, and attempting to jump out of a window, which ended in failure. He then walks back into the apartment and, muttering a final, "I love you" to her corpse, ends his life with a knife.

At the service, she also saw some of her old friends there; the normal group of 2-9ers was back together, sans the two deceased and adding Satoshi's little sister, Yuka. At the service they had all made a promise to meet up even more often than they had been. Yui had been supportive of each of them, and while she couldn't hang out with them, she made a promise that one day, they all would go out to 'enjoy' themselves. Ayumi knew that to mean they would all go drinking, but she wouldn't dare protest it.

Stepping out of the shower, Ayumi dried her hair with a towel before getting dressed in sweats and a tee shirt. Looking in her mirror, she shook her head at her herself. "You're 21, and you still look like how you did when you were 17..." she muttered. She had retained her height and body size, and the only thing that really changed was that she was a B cup instead of an A(something she was very proud of). Her hair was still around her shoulders, but she just never put it into pigtails anymore. As an adult, she sported a single ponytail, or would just leave it out.

Checking her phone, she saw a message from Naomi asking her when she would be available. Quickly answering that she could do any day next week, she tossed her phone on the bed and ran down the stairs to her elder sister; she needed comfort, and quick.

**A/N: I hope this wasn't too long! I'm really, really grateful for the three likes and the one favorite I received, so a shout out to: Ninjaboy250, natalie1668, and LightningRS! Once again, thank you so so much! **

**Ok, now to story business: this chapter obviously isn't a direct follow up to the prologue, but the prologue will play its part. While the majority of this story is an AU, it does connect to canon, so it's a little weird. So yeah, things will be different. But it all connects to canon, but I don't want to give away spoilers, so that's it. Also, I will be including a lot of information from the game, so it may be a little hard to keep up with (I know it gets like that for me). But I really hope everyone enjoys this story, so please, review and let me know if you don't like the direction I took it in, because it's not too late to redo the first chapter and add this as something else...or just review to let me know if I did a good job. About the update schedule, I'll release them as I finish each chapter. So tomorrow, there will be another one too! I'm working on the one after that at the moment. Sorry if the characters are a little bit OOC...I can't tell if I do it right or not.**


	3. Liar

Yoshiki sat on his beat up couch, thinking. Suzumoto and Morishige were gone. They were..._dead._ Not like he was particularly close to either them per say, but they were some of his only friends. Suzumoto was always really good at giving advice or making him feel better, and Morishige, even though in Yoshiki's honest opinion he needed to lose the stick up his ass, was an alright guy. Even though he was a little weird, Yoshiki had considered him a good friend. And now they were both dead.

When Satoshi had called him with the news, Yoshiki had froze in the middle of his work, causing all of his co-workers to look at him funny. He had left work early and practically ran to the Satoshi's apartment. After that, him, Satoshi, Shinozaki, Shinohara, and Nakashima had met up at Shinozaki's to mourn their lost friends.

Next to him, his phone beeped. "Nakashima...? What does she want?" Reading the message, he replied that he could only do next Wednesday or Friday because of college and his job. Sighing, he tossed himself on his bed and put his pillow over his face. Tomorrow he had to work a late shift immediately after classes.

Again, his phone went off, except it was ringing from a phone call. Checking the caller ID, he saw it was his little sister. "Miki? What's up?"

"Nothing really," was her short reply. "I just wanted to check on you because the service was today." Yoshiki nodded on his end of the line, appreciating his sister's concern for his well being. "I'm...alright, I guess. Thanks," he answered.

"No problem. Listen, if you want I can come over. Father is at work, and Mother won't really care if I visit you, especially because of what you're going through."

"No Miki," Yoshiki protested. "You're a senior, and I know you're smart, but you need study. I know for a fact that this is like the most stressful year of high school, so thanks but no thanks."

His little sister was silent for a while, and he knew that was just her trying to come up with an excuse to beat down his, but when she finally answered, he could tell she came up with nothing. "Alright...just take care of herself. And remember you promised to help me go apartment hunting."

"Yeah, yeah, take care kid." She giggled and replied, "Right back at you. Love you, Onii-chan." They hung up and Yoshiki picked up his keys from the kitchen table. He needed dinner, and he wasn't in the mood for cooking tonight.

* * *

Satoshi paced back and forth about his living room, clearly stressed out. Naomi watched him with a concerned look, but made no move to comfort him. Next to her, Seiko bit her lip nervously, not liking the atmosphere of the room.

"Satoshi...please, just take a seat," Naomi pleaded. Satoshi whipped around and stared at her for a bit, but took a seat anyways. "What's wrong? I know this whole Suzumoto and Morishige situation is a bit...stressful, but not like this."

Satoshi rubbed his head and sighed. "It's just...this whole thing is messed up. It's not fair! And we don't even know who killed Suzumoto..." Naomi gave him a comforting hug, and Seiko went into the kitchen and returned with tea for the three of them. Sitting down, she raked her fingers through her brown hair, feeling a little stressed herself.

"Listen here, Mochi, I know you're not really up to it, but you have to cheer up. We all miss Suzume and Morishige, but we can't just stop everything; we have to keep going, no matter how hard it is. So stop stressing out and just be grateful that you haven't lost everything yet. They'll live on in our memories." Not making eye contact with either of the brunettes in the room, Seiko sipped her tea silently, letting her words sink in.

"Seiko..." Naomi gaped. It was rare that her best friend would voice her opinions so seriously, but today her voice had a no-nonsense tone in it. "Shinohara, I...yeah, you're right." Satoshi said. The room grew quiet and eventually the two girls said their goodbyes, leaving Satoshi alone.

He took off his jacket and threw his tie on the bedroom floor. He lay sprawled on his bed, wishing that things had gone differently, and two of his friends weren't dead. Neither of them deserved to die, they were both good people. "Although Morishige was always a little weird...but that doesn't any better that he's dead. Suicide, no less."

Many times since he had heard the news of their deaths, Satoshi had considered the scary thought that Morishige might have killed Mayu. Satoshi, however, had been trying to avoid that thought, but seeing the video again today made him reconsider again. In the video, the killer's back is shown, but it still didn't really make sense why Morishige was at Mayu's apartment then and screaming that it was his fault; what's more was that the video was taken on Morishige's phone. That fact bothered Satoshi immensely because the video being on his friend's phone and the killer using Morishige's phone even though Morishige himself wasn't shown to be there originally didn't add up. None of it did.

"But Morishige wouldn't do that to Suzumoto...he loved her too much. Besides, it wouldn't make that much sense for him to kill her, anyways..." he muttered, sitting up. He ran a hand through his chestnut brown hair, and began to undress. He'd had a long day, and was tired, but he couldn't help but stare into his mirror. All the thinking had really stressed him out, and he could see bags starting to form.

"Maybe I'll sleep in tomorrow...not like I have anything to do anyways," he mumbled, already falling asleep.

* * *

Ayumi woke up in the middle night, feeling strangely cold. It was intense and she couldn't stop shivering. She stepped out of her room and pulled a robe tight against her body as she walked down to the kitchen to get a late night snack. When she got downstairs, she surprisingly found her father sitting at the table, staring at the surface with a cup of tea next to him.

"Dad?" She asked, alarmed. He looked up and smiled softly at her, adjusting his glasses. "What are you doing up so late? It's 4:00 in the morning!" She exclaimed taking a seat across from her father.

"Ayumi...what do you think of me as a person?" The question and her father's tone caught her off guard, so she had to think about for a moment.

"I-I...I think you're wonderful, Dad. You always have good advice, and you're always looking out for everyone you care about. Not to mention, you are extremely reliable and trustworthy and you're really strong."

Once again, Ayato fixed his glasses. "Really?" She nodded earnestly, meaning every word. "Yup."

"Have you ever taken your father for a liar?" Ayumi's eyes widened at this question; at one point in her life, yes, she did think her father was a liar. A few years ago, actually, and she had thought he had been cheating on her mother. Of course, he wasn't, and they had a long conversation, in which she apologized to him for not believing in him.

"Dad...why are you asking this?" He shook his head at her. "Just answer the question, dear." At this point, the man sounded desperate for an answer, so she felt obligated to answer.

"Well, there was that one time, but you weren't so...I mean, you are _capable_ of lying, I don't know why you would, but you certainly could, I think." Silence ensued afterward, so Ayumi figured he was thinking hard about something.

"I see...thank you, Ayumi. I know lying is wrong, but one more question: do you think lying for the sake of protecting is alright?" Ayato finally looked at his daughter, and she could she the desperation in his eyes; he was worried about something, and all these questions were meant to help him make a decision. What the decision was, she didn't know, but she was determined to find out.

"I think it depends on what you're protecting the person from and _who_ you're protecting. But...are you lying to protect someone Dad?" He shrugged, but his eyes told a different story. "More like I'm holding back information, but it's not anything that's common knowledge." The man stood up and put his and his daughter's cups in the sink. He headed towards the stairs, bidding his daughter goodnight.

"Ayumi...be careful out there, alright. Evil is everywhere, and it would pay to listen to your sister sometimes."

"Wh-what?" She stuttered. Rather than explaining himself, he continued his speech. "You should look into your family one day, Ayumi. You were always interested in the occult, weren't you? Goodnight, dear." Her father was up the stairs and Ayumi was left alone in the kitchen wondering exactly what the hell was wrong with her father.

"Dad...what's going on?" Going back up to her old room, she shook her head, trying to rid herself of all the thoughts that filled her head. But she couldn't stop the dreams that plagued her that night in her ice cold bedroom.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter kind of covered the other main characters of the story, and introduced an important conversation at the end; this was really really important, so please remember this. And also remember that as an author, I have creative liberties. I'm not currently 100% on this, but I'm pretty sure that the Shinozaki power gets passed down to whoever is of the pure bloodline; SO that means Ayato has the whole spiritual power, not Asuka because she was married into the family. Just remember that while reading this. So I hope you guys liked this chapter too! Remember to review!**


	4. Closure

_The man searched frantically for something to grab onto, yet couldn't find anything. The darkness that threatened to swallow him up grew closer, and he shivered, knowing that once it consumed him he would never get out. _

"_I need to escape...that way I can get the message out at least." He began running, fighting his way through the murky liquid in front of him; by the time he made it out, his clothes were dyed a deep red, and he almost hurled thinking of what he just swam through. But now that he was out, he began running even faster, the dark mist still chasing him. It caught hold of his ankle, and he shrieked. _

"_NO! G-get off!" He fought desperately, trying not to lose to the dark being, but found it becoming harder and harder to do. Soon, he was engulfed by the Darkening, only leaving his worn out notepad behind._

* * *

Ayumi snapped out of her daydream, rudely awoken by the constant tapping on her shoulder. She looked at her classmate, glaring for him to stop. The dirty-blonde haired boy stopped, holding his hands up in the air.

"Don't get mad at me, Shinozaki, I was only trying to make sure you didn't get in trouble." She shook her head at him. "Shut up, Katayama." Ayumi shifted in her seat, trying to not show her discomfort around him.

Ryosuke Katayama was an aspiring game developer, and in order to achieve his dream he enrolled in the same art school as her, focusing on graphic design. His dream was nice, in Ayumi's opinion; it was his personality that was _not._ Katayama was a bit of a pervert, which made him irresponsible and not respectable, in her mind. And although they shared interests in anime and manga and video games, he was a complete otaku. She wasn't. Not to mention, he had once expressed to her his love for idols, saying that they were like a real life dating sim; he was a total wota!

"Sorry, sorry. Listen...I'm sorry about Suzumoto. You were closer to her than I ever could have been. And what happened was terrible." He offered her a sympathetic glance before moving his seat. Katayama was one of Mayu's old classmates when she transferred schools. .Ayumi put her head down, not wanting to remember what she had went through just a few days ago; Mayu would want her to be happy, right?

Gathering her things, Ayumi left the college as she finished classes for the day. Whipping out her cell phone, she saw a missed call from Seiko.

"Shinohara?" Ayumi asked.

"Ayumi-chan! Thank god you answered! We're all meeting up at the high school in about...30 minutes? Naomi, how long?" Seiko paused in her cheery answer, waiting for her friend to reply. "Ok! Yeah, 30 minutes. Make sure you're there, alright?"

"Of course!" With that, the two hung up, and she began walking to her apartment to drop off her stuff. She had only been staying with her parents from when she heard the news up until the actual burial. After that, she was back home in her three bedroom apartment. As an artist, she needed a lot of space, so the setup was ideal for her.

Unlocking her door, she threw off her clothes and changed into something more comfortable consisting of loose dark jeans and a gray tank top with her orange sweater. Seeing that she had 10 minutes until she had to be at the school, she left the house, phone in her pocket.

Every time she had time alone to think, she kept thinking of the conversation she had with her father the other night, and what his questions meant; was he hiding from her? And what was so special about the family that he couldn't just tell her?

"Whatever," she muttered.

"You talking to yourself Shinozaki?"

Ayumi looked up Yoshiki and the others giving her quizzical looks, and it seemed as if though he was the only one to voice it. "Sh-shut up," she stuttered, causing the group of 5 to laugh. Seiko gestured for Ayumi to come over towards them, and she complied, and they walked past the school towards Mayu's apartment. Once Ayumi realized where they were going, however, she froze.

"Why are we going to Suzumoto's house?" She questioned, looking at all of them; Yuka was looking down at the ground, Naomi was stuck with shock and confusion because she didn't know what to say, Seiko was fiddling with her fingers, and the two boys were looking at each other, having a silent conversation.

Finally, Yoshiki spoke up. "Listen, Shinozaki...we thought that we might, y'know...just at least go there. Not to investigate anything, but to just be there because they were...if that makes much sense." He ended off uncertain, scratching the back of his head.

Ayumi took a moment. If she did go with them, it wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Besides, if she could see the video, then she could certainly go to the crime scene. At this point, no one had cleared it out yet, but it wasn't a crime scene anymore. "Alright..."

* * *

Yoshiki kept his hand in his pocket, letting the other swing loosely on his side. Even though he hadn't been planning on visiting his dead friend's apartment this afternoon, he was alright with it. Truthfully, he did miss Suzumoto and Morishige, and it _was _a little hard for him to accept their deaths, so this might give him some closure. As they approached Mayu's floor, he felt the air get a little colder in the building, so much that he had to keep both hands in his pocket and close his jacket, despite it only being October.

Satoshi carefully opened the door, and they all stepped inside. Naomi flicked the light switch on, revealing the basically empty apartment. After the incident, Mayu's family had moved out her things and put them in storage. They all fully stepped in the small place, taking a quick look around. The place where the couch used to be was empty so they all sat down there.

"So close..." Yoshiki muttered. "What was that Kishinuma?" Ayumi asked. He shook his head, but then answered at her unforgiving glare. "It's just...we're so close to them...in a way." His gray eyes held sadness in them, and Satoshi gave his best friend a comforting pat on the back.

The group sat there together for a bit, catching up with each other. Seiko made fun of Yoshiki's new hair, which was now his natural hair color of a dark brown, the girls teased both of the guys for not having girl friends yet, but Satoshi replied that it went both ways. It was almost as if they were back in high school again, and they had picked up Yuka from the junior high to hang out. Almost...

Suddenly, the lights went out and all of them stopped talking. "Hey, who cut the lights?!" Naomi shouted. Seiko clung to Naomi tightly, and Yuka to Satoshi. Ayumi scooted closer to Yoshiki, but made no move to cling to him. A loud THUD sounded from the back room, and they all tensed in fear, some letting out shrieks. "Wh-wh-wh-at's going on?" Satoshi stuttered. He was terrified to the point where he was shaking. Two more minutes of the THUD-ding noise, and an unknown shriek of pain, and the lights turned on. Yuka was sniffling a bit, and so was Seiko.

"What was that just now Onii-chan?" Satoshi shook his head at his sister, a signal for her to be quiet. "Yoshiki, go try the door." He whispered. "What?! Why me?!"

Satoshi pushed him forward, "Just do it!" Grumbling, Yoshiki stepped forward and pulled the door knob. Nothing happened at first, so he tugged it even harder. "It...won't budge." He kept twisting and turning it until the THUD noise came from the back again. Jumping slightly, he turned around to see his friends doing the same. "What is that noise?" Ayumi muttered.

Once again the lights shut off, so the group waited for another few minutes. Nothing happened this time, so Yoshiki switched the lights on and the lights revealed a gruesome sight; Mayu's body was hung up on the furthest wall by two nails in each of their shoulders. Her insides hung down like a too long table cloth on a small table. Morishige's body was close by, lying on its back. His eyes were wide open and a knife was stuck in his abdomen. In addition to this, his arm was twisted and he was covered in dirt.

Shrieks came from everyone in the room, and they all cringed from the smell. "M-Mayu!" Ayumi coughed out. She was struggling to breathe from the sight, and Yoshiki began rubbing her back trying to calm her down.

"Those weren't there before!" Yuka screamed frantically. Satoshi pulled into his embrace trying to calm her down. "Guys, just stay calm! Let's just get out of here, alright?!" Taking action, Naomi let go of a shaking Seiko to try the door knob.

"Guys!" Naomi screamed. "The door... still locked! It won't open!"

"What?!" Yoshiki pushed Naomi out of the way to struggle with the door knob, and she was right, it didn't open. "We're...trapped."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, end of the chapter! Yes, I included Ryosuke, just like I'll be including most of the Byakudan kids(hopefully). He'll only be a minor character, but he's still here. Also, I will be shipping characters, I already decided for the main ones, but for the background characters, if you have any requests, I'll try and see what I can do! (example: Kai and Tohko, Kurosaki and Mitsuki, etc.) Hmm...I think that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you did, click the little button that says review! **


	5. Trapped

"We're trapped...?"

Satoshi was frozen with fear; how the hell could this be happening in Mayu's apartment? Those bodies aren't supposed to be here, and they shouldn't be stuck in here! As far as he knew, there weren't any other exits in the place, unless they used the fire escape...

"Guys, I have an idea!" Everyone turned their attention to the brunette who spoke up. "What if we try the fire escape? The windows shouldn't be locked."

"Good idea, Mochida!" Ayumi exclaimed. They all began to head towards the back of the apartment where the fire escape was located in Mayu's bedroom when they heard a loud THUD again. "What the hell could that be?" Kishinuma muttered. Keeping close to each other, they continued towards the bedroom.

Seiko was the first to reach the door and reached out to touch the door when the THUD caused her to jump and cower from the door. "Naomi...I'm scared." Naomi gently pushed Seiko behind her. "I know, but we have to if we want to get out."

"But the noise is coming from in there Naomi! What if it flies out and hits us?" Seiko moved more towards the back of the group where Yoshiki stood. "We have to take that risk, Shinohara," Satoshi told her. "Move, Naomi." He grabbed the door knob and turned it, flinging the door open. Nothing was in the room, but the temperatures in their were burning hot, like someone set it on fire.

"Look, there's nothing in here, Seiko," Naomi said.

"Onii-chan...why is it so hot in here?" Yuka questioned. Ayumi steadied herself on the wall, trying to control her headache. "I don't know, but guys...this isn't normal. This is almost...spiritual."

"Shinozaki...you mean that whatever the hell is going on is paranormal?" Yoshiki grit his teeth at her painful nod of the head. "I think," she began, "that the banging and the fire and the lights and everything is connected. So be careful, alright? If it gets too hot, then we leave."

"Why?" Seiko asked. "Because there's the off chance that we might get set on fire and burn. Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest differences when it comes to the paranormal...Hinoe taught me that." The small woman clutched her head in pain when they moved further into the room; for some reason, this room in particular was making her feel nauseous, and it practically suffocating her.

"See anything, Satoshi?" Yoshiki called out from the back of the group. Up front, Satoshi couldn't see anything and he relayed the message to his friend. After looking around for anything that might try and kill them, per Seiko and Yuka's request, they tried to open the window.

"It's like...this thing...is stuck!" Yoshiki struggled with the window. Naomi frowned. "How is the window stuck ?"

"It feels like it's...glued on. I don't know how so don't ask me!" He replied angrily. Clearly bothered, he stepped away from the window for Naomi to try. "No, I believe you...sorry." She sighed, because now they were really trapped.

"So what should we do? Mochida? Any ideas?" Seiko looked to the brunette for answers. "Why me?" He questioned.

"Because you came up with this idea, Onii-chan," Yuka replied.

The bathroom door in Mayu's room flung itself open, stopping whatever answer Satoshi had planned to give. Inside, the lights began flickering rapidly, and the door began repeatedly slamming itself on the wall behind it.

The lights in the bathroom stopped flickering, coming to a dim glow. A ghost appeared in the dim lighting, its entire face covered in blood, leaving no physical features visible. As it came closer, more of its body could be seen.

"Is that...a Kisaragi uniform?" Satoshi asked. Shocked, his little sister could only nod, too focused on the scene in front of her; the spirit was obviously a female from the type of uniform she wore. However, the younger Mochida's gaze was set on something else. The dead girl's hair was styled into a small ponytail at the side of her head, held together by two pink shaped hair ties.

Shocked, Ayumi fell backwards, not believing her eyes. It couldn't be...right?

"M-Mayu?!"

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger?! Not really, though. Sorry for the short chapter, some of the ending didn't turn out like how I wanted so I got kind of frustrated so if it isn't as good, sorry. I may go back and edit this chapter...I don't know, I'll see. Short, but enjoyable, right? Please a review letting me now any, and I mean any feelings you have so far. Bye!**


	6. Collision

Misuto walked with his hands in his pocket, silently fuming. He was pissed. In fact, he was beyond pissed. He fucking _furious. _How dare that fucking midget go and do as she pleased?! Didn't she know that there were some things you should just _leave the fuck alone?!_

Whipping out his cellphone, he angrily pressed the keys, and even shoved a drunk man out of his way. The line kept ringing, but no one answered. Hanging up, he tried again.

Beep...beep...beep...beep...

No answer. "Damnit, Hinoe! Answer your fucking phone!" He growled, clenching his fist tight. Again, he tried the phone. On the fourth ring, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hinoe, where the hell is that little bitch?!" He fumed.

"Misuto! What's your problem?" Obviously shocked, Hinoe gasped, and Misuto tried his hardest to calm down.

"Your sister is doing something to mess things up...I know you feel that presence too, Hinoe."

"Yeah...I do." She quietly mumbled. "But I don't think you should-"

"What? Interfere? You fucking know I will, so don't test me. It's happening, alright? Talk to you later." Abruptly, he hung up, and began his trek towards the source of the disruption of balance in the spiritual energy.

* * *

"Th-there's no way...Suzume?!" Seiko exclaimed. Shaking her head back and forth, she took a step even further behind Yoshiki, not wanting to believe that her dead friend was standing in front of her right now. Fear could be seen in her brown eyes, and she began to shake violently. "N-Naomi!" She called out in fear.

Meanwhile, Naomi was staring intently at the quickly moving figure, eyes wide at the closing distance. The face looked like it covered in a blood caked mask, and she felt sick just looking at it. She looked around at her friends, and was surprised to see Satoshi dragging Yuka towards to the door. His action shocked her out of her daze and she began to take shaky steps towards Seiko.

As the ghostly figure stepped into the room, it could be clearly seen that it was indeed Mayu; she staggered towards the group, her footsteps dragged on the floor and the sound it made resembled a knife grating on bones. As she grew closer, a deep, low moaning could be heard making its way from her mouth, continuing to get higher.

Ayumi grimaced at the noise, and went to cover her ears, but then realized something: she sweating. She was sweating, and she shouldn't be. Just before, the apartment had been cool. So why was she sweating? Coughing, she took another step back, accidentally bumping into Yoshiki. They both stumbled a bit, but brushed it off when they heard Mayu begin to screech at the top of her lungs.

The heat in the went up tenfold, and a faint crackling noise could be heard. "Guys!" Ayumi cried, turning and running. "Get out of there! The room is gonna set fire!" Fleeing out of the open door, Yoshiki shut the door closed hearing Mayu's wailing and another crackle.

"What the hell caused that Shinozaki?!" Yoshiki growled, rolling away from the door and leaning on a nearby wall. Ayumi panted, holding her chest while trying to catch her breath. "I-it was...hate...Suzumoto's hatred."

"Hatred...? Towards us?" He asked. Ayumi could only nod, but then added, "Hatred towards the living." She said simply.

Yuka gasped, sitting a few feet away from her brother. "O-Onii-chan! The bodies!" She pointed frantically at the bodies, and Satoshi could see that they had disappeared, although there were still blood streaks on the wall were they rested. "Maybe they disappeared...?" He questioned. However, Seiko's shriek proved him wrong.

"M-Morishige?!" She exclaimed, jumping up and pulling Naomi towards Yuka. Behind her, Morishige's corpse staggered clutching his arm in pain while he carried something underneath his other arm. The unknown object was clumpy and a liquid dripped from it, revealed to be blood from further inspection.

"What the hell _is _that?!" Naomi screeched. Closer, Morishige dragged himself towards the group, the object revealed to be Mayu's defiled corpse-or at least part of it; the glasses wearing boy was carrying Mayu's torso area, mostly the intestines, and the rest of her dragged behind him.

"Suzumoto!" Satoshi yelled out, now confused again. She was just in the room trying to kill them, wasn't she? Unless this was just her body and her spirit was separate from it...

The room door flew open, and in came a screeching Mayu, cornering the group from the right while Morishige advanced from directly in front of them. The air coming from Morishige's direction was ice cold, while sparks began flying around Mayu. Ayumi became tense at the situation; there was no easy way out of this, and this was certain to end in catastrophe.

Like she predicted, the two airs clashed in the middle of the room, and burst of air pushed the group in to two different directions; Yoshiki, Ayumi, and Satoshi on the right, and Naomi, Seiko, and Yuka on the left.

"Naomi! Yuka!" Satoshi called out, worried for their safety. He tried to get up and run, but a barrier pushed him back, causing him to shiver. Yoshiki caught him, and they both stared on, helpless to the rising heat on their side of the room that would no doubt lead to a fiery death.

Mayu's screeches turned into a high-pitched laugh, and Morishige wore an unnatural grin on his face, staring Yuka in the eyes. Yuka stumbled backwards towards Seiko, and held her tight; the cold was getting to her fast. Seiko distractedly pulled her and Naomi closer, trying to find a way out of this alive, but thinking of none, bringing tears to her eyes.

Naomi clenched her fist, leaning against the apartment's door; the damn thing was still locked, leaving them trapped. "So we're going to freeze to death and they're burning to death...and the worst part is that we're being separated." She began sobbing uncontrollably, joining Yuka and Seiko in their wailing.

Naomi felt her feet begin to freeze when the door behind her busted open and almost took off her head. Jumping forward, she didn't have time to react when a man walked in with an angry face and grabbed her arm. Nodding to the other girls, he spoke. "Get the fuck out of here. _NOW._" He growled, and at the tightening of his grip, Naomi got up and ran, pulling Seiko and Yuka with her.

* * *

**A/N: I ended it here so I could upload it while I had time. Let me now if you think this is dragging out a bit too much please. So sorry if it's short also. Guess who the man is~! I bet you can lol! Once again, please review and let me know your thoughts on this! I'll have the next chapter up in a few days.**


	7. Escape

Watching the trio of girls run, Misuto gripped the item in his pocket tightly, trying to hold his anger back just enough so that he wouldn't crush it. "Shinozaki...you idiot." The air near him had become even colder, the chill causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand. He watched as the dead boy stared at him through cracked lenses, frowning. "Tch." He growled. Morishige stepped towards Misuto but was blocked back by the stone Misuto held in his hands. It glowed a dark blue and the light that shone out of it was almost blinding.

Morishige fell to his knees, shaking and crying out in pain. Misuto kicked him to the side, and began walking towards the heat, the humidity slowly turning into plain hot air.

On the other side of the room, Satoshi coughed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. The three stood close, trying to avoid the fire from catching any of their clothes. He shook his head, trying to ward off the thoughts of what could have been happening to Naomi and the others. The brunette was taken out of his thoughts by a loud of cry of pain from Morishige, and an increase in the heat.

"Suzumoto...?" Ayumi questioned. She couldn't shake off the third spiritual presence and its familiarity, but couldn't focus due to the intense heat. She could tell by now that Morishige had somehow been weakened, but there was no immediate explanation as to _why._ She looked at the two boys by her side and closed her eyes in a silent prayer that at least the other 3 got out of this place.

The fire around them seemed to grow in height while the flames in front of them died down. Through the opening they could see Mayu clenching her fists while staring at her bloody torso. She had stopped shrieking all together and was now mumbling, "Shige-nii, Shige-nii..." over and over.

"Who's the dude?" Yoshiki asked, and Ayumi had to do a double take. She saw the green haired man stalking towards Mayu with a glare on his face. "M-Misuto...!" Ayumi exclaimed, ignoring the other two boys' odd stares. She began running out of the flames, the two following her.

"Wait, Shinozaki, you know that guy?" Satoshi asked as they fled, trying to at least get to the center of the room. She could only nod, trying to save all her breath, her non-athletic lifestyle catching up to her. She watched as Misuto drew a stone out of his pocket and a shard of it broke off in Mayu's direction from the strength he used while gripping it.

"Shinozaki! What is he doing?" Yoshiki called out, wary of the newcomer. He was watched in awe as Mayu began shrieking an even more painful sound than last time, giving him a headache. As she got louder, he began to slowly fall, and collapsed on one knee. "Yoshiki!" He heard Satoshi call out.

Mayu clutched her head in pain, but couldn't help disappearing, Morishige following. The collision of temperatures in the room stopped, but Ayumi could feel a different kind of heat seeping into the room; Misuto was seething, and she wasn't entirely sure why.

"M-Misuto?" He stomped towards the confused girl and roughly grabbed her arm. "Do you have _any fucking idea _what you did?!" He growled. He tightened his grip, causing her to cry out in pain. Satoshi, who was trying to help Yoshiki, stood up and pulled the other man off her.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Satoshi challenged. Misuto glared at the shorter brunette and probably would have punched him, too, if not for Hinoe making her presence known.

"Misuto...I thought I asked you not to...and don't handle Ayumi so roughly." Making her way over to the small group she tugged Misuto's sleeve, and he let go of Satoshi.

Ayumi, still shaken up by everything, was speechless. "Onee-chan? Wh...What's going on?"

Hinoe sent her sister a reassuring smile. "Later, Ayumi. Your friend was affected by the spiritual pressure." She bent down next to Yoshiki and placed a charm on his neck. "This should help with the pain. I'll properly take care of it later." Satoshi helped his best friend up, and Yoshiki groaned. "My head feels like shit...fuck."

Satoshi cracked a smile at his friend's vulgar nature and Ayumi glared, but her eyes softened at the fact that he was no longer hurt. She then turned her attention to the otherwise empty room and her eyes widened. "Where's Nakashima? And Shinohara and Yuka-chan?" At the mention of the missing three, Satoshi gasped, and looked frantically around the room. "Yuka!"

"Who? Ya mean the chick with the big tits?" Satoshi and Ayumi's faces both turned a shade of red (for different reasons, of course) at the reference to Naomi. "Y-Yeah...did you see them?" Satoshi asked.

Misuto pointed to the door. "I made them leave. They would've froze to death. That was cold as hell..." He tried to wrap his arm around Hinoe for warmth, but she pushed him away. "That's your fault. I would've handled it, Misuto..." She shook her head at him, and he kept his mouth shut to not further disappoint her.

The younger trio breathed a sigh of relief that the other friends were safe. "So, what now?" Yoshiki managed to say through his pounding headache. "We go meet up with Naomi and the others and then head to Shinozaki's?" Satoshi suggested, looking at the two sisters who nodded their heads in agreement.

They began walking out the apartment, Misuto mumbling under breath about how cold he was, and it wasn't fair that Hinoe was giving him the silent treatment basically, even though he had saved her sister, and that she didn't love him. Hinoe ignored him, already knowing he would get over the tantrum, but mentally promising to make it up to him later.

* * *

Outside, Naomi held Seiko, who was shaking like crazy. "Seiko...it's alright now. We're safe." Naomi managed out, not really believing her own words, and she could tell Yuka was skeptical of the brunette as well. Yuka sat down leaning on the apartment building's side, her head in her hands. "Onii-chan..." Yuka sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes.

Through the frozen ice that had begun to surround them, Yuka had been able to see her brother being engulfed by flames, and the very thought that he could be..._gone_, killed her inside. She felt tears at the corners of her eyes, and she felt the sobs wracking her body.

**After escaping that hellhole, she had been sure that their lives were safe. That she wouldn't have to fear turning every corner. That _he _wouldn't be there waiting for her. **

Yuka froze. "Who...?" Where did those thoughts come from just now? She didn't know what 'hellhole' she had been referring to, or who the man she had mentioned was either. Shaking her head, she blamed it on the crazy experience she had just escaped.

She was still crying while listening to Naomi whisper reassurances to Seiko when Ayumi came out of the building, followed by the woman who had ran in and the angry man who had dragged them out. She looked at each of their faces, searching for a sign. She saw anger, relief...tiredness, but no sign of grief. No sign that her brother was gone. However, she still didn't see him, and she couldn't shake the little doubt in the back of her mind.

"Everyone alright?" She heard Ayumi call out and almost automatically nodded, not really paying attention to her surroundings, her eyes glued to the door. The adults talked with one another, attempting to comfort each other and review the situation, but she wouldn't move unless her brother came out.

"Onii-chan?" She whispered. She saw a shadow moving down the stairs, and heard a few grunts. Stepping forward into the light she could see it _was_ her brother, struggling to support an injured-looking Yoshiki. Crying out in relief, Yuka began to urn towards her brother.

"Sorry guys, Yoshiki's a little heavy, and I fell-oof!" He staggered a bit as his sister crashed into him, sobbing on his chest. "I thought you died!"

Shaking his head, Satoshi patted her back. "It's alright Yuka...I'm right here. But, uh...you knocked down Yoshiki." Letting go of him in alarm, Yuka bowed. "I'm so sorry!"

"Calm down, kid, it's fine. I'm fine. And Satoshi? I'm not heavy, you're just clumsy."

Satoshi let him go again, on purpose this time, and frowned. "Am not!"

"Are too! Asshole, that hurt!" The other male growled.

Ayumi smiled at their banter, but it quickly faded when she saw the house behind them. She had no idea what had really went on there, or why it was her fault, or why Misuto was angry with her(for an actual reason this time, too), but she intended to find out.

"Come on guys, the quicker we get back to my place, the better. I don't want to linger much longer."

Nodding in agreement, the group began to walk away from the house, unaware of the black shadows that danced in the windows of Mayu's apartment.

* * *

**A/N: Okay! This chapter is finished, and I unfortunately have to say it will be a few days extra until the next update. A little longer, and they're finally out! Oh, and more important foreshadowing! That's always good. I hope no one was OOC, but if they were, oh well. This story is obviously AU anyway, and I already explained that so...(I was mainly worried about Misuto, but if anyone else is off, let me know and I'll try to fix it in later chapters.) Let's see...oh! Next chapter, there will be a major, major change in setting. I'm still trying to decide if I want Blood Drive spoilers in this or not...maybe. I don't know, you guys let me know if you're okay with that. SO, before this gets too long, please leave a review, I'd feel really really happy, and let me know how you feel!**


	8. Follower

The little girl poked at the bloody entrails that lay before her and giggled. Her oily black hair fell over her face, and the red dress she wore stood out in the darkness of the school's dark hallways. Behind her, the silhouette of another little girl lingered, her black eyes peering through the darkness.

Sachiko stopped giggling, finally noticing the presence behind her. "So...you're here." It wasn't a question.

"..."

Met with complete silence, Sachiko shivered, not wanting to deal with the person behind her...her _shadow._ Feigning anger, she growled, "Sachiko isn't in the mood...she doesn't want to play. So leave." When the silhouette did nothing but stand there heaving heavy breaths, Sachiko felt real anger boiling in her veins; she wasn't supposed to be here!

"Just go back to where you came from! Leave!" She shrieked. Her hair was as limp as ever, but her eyes held the fear she wouldn't dare to express. "Go hide in the shadows where you belong!"

The little girl in red's aura increased, hatred seething out of it, and the silhouette disappeared. Left alone, Sachiko sat down and curled herself into a ball. She didn't understand what was going on at _all, _anymore.

"Sachiko doesn't understand...what did Sachiko do? Why is that girl always around Sachiko...?" Shaking her head back and forth, the blood covered girl stood, and began wandering towards her mother. Lately, Heavenly Host had begun to experience mild distortions; the school was in its own dimension, so, naturally, the dimension would have its own set of rule concerning time and space. Very obviously, it did, what with the multiple dimensions within one dimension and then the different time 'zones'. However, the multiple dimensions were beginning to crash, and Sachiko was not to fond of the idea. Each smaller dimension had its own time loop, creating several different time loops that fit with the main dimension of Tenjin. Basically, Heavenly Host was composed of several different time loops in one dimension.

And Sachiko had control of every singe loop. Every. Single. One. Up until recently, that is. The distortions that were happening concerned the time loops. Some of them were disappearing, and others were taking different paths Sachiko didn't enjoy. And that was what they were for; Sachiko was supposed to have fun watching them.

Normally, it wouldn't even matter that they were being messed with, because Sachiko would just create a new one and get rid of the old one. But this time, the main time line was being messed with. Some one was trying to merge the main loop with another one, and Sachiko didn't like it. Or the someone causing it.

Sachiko knew it was the girl who his behind her and she knew that her mother knew who the girl was. It's just that Sachiko didn't know, and she didn't like that. Not one bit. "But Sachiko will find out. After all, Sachiko _is_ the ruler of this place..." So she would fix it, just like every other problem she had.

And this time, the time loop was definitely not in her favor. Another problem; Sachiko smiled gleefully. "Sachiko will just have to fix that too."

* * *

**A/N: Really short chapter, and I apologize. I've had a few projects to do and then I just decided to split up the rest of the chapter because I might rewrite it. So I will post this because this is definitely staying. Sorry for being gone long and giving this. Hmm...so yeah. Please, I hope everyone is enjoying this story. If you have anything to say, just drop a review and let me know. I'll will surely continue this, that's for sure. I will try my best to update soon! Oh and sorry if the explanation about Heavenly Host was confusing and if Sachiko is OOC**


	9. Tension

Naomi sighed, rubbing a hand through her short brown locks in frustration. She sat on her bed staring at her cellphone, a hesitant finger hovering over the 'send' button. Naomi read the message over and over, doubt filling her mind; should she send it? Should she expect something from it? Would it even help her if she got an answer?

An abrupt knock interrupted her thoughts. "Naomi? Are you awake?" It was her mother. Naomi sighed, closing her phone and once letting the message once again go to her drafts.

"Come in," Naomi muttered. She never really enjoyed seeing her mother these days; they fought over everything, Natsumi seemingly infuriated by her daughter's recent talks about an 'imaginary' friend named Seiko. Naomi knew, though, that Seiko was real. She even had proof on her phone for god's sake! But the photo's face was blackened, and Naomi knew that if she showed her mother the photo one more time, she'd absolutely get sent to an institution and put on meds.

Natsumi cautiously stepped into the room, looking around before closing the door behind her. Seeing that the room was as clean and tidy as it was when she cleaned it yesterday, she took a deep breath and forced a smile for her daughter. "Naomi," she grit through her teeth, "how are you feeling today?" She watched as Naomi flinched at the harsh tone her mother used. In Natsumi's mind, her actions were justified; if Naomi had the right to scream and hit her mother, then her mother had the right to treat her daughter as a stranger.

"F-fine...I guess." Naomi tried to hold in her stutter, but realized it didn't even matter. Her mother wouldn't notice it anyways. To her mother, everything that came out of Naomi's mouth was fine so long as she wasn't being 'crazy'. Natsumi walked closer to Naomi, eying her up and down, searching for any signs of an outburst. Thankfully, she found none. "Think you can get yourself together enough to go to school?" Her tone was cold and harsh, and Naomi flinched again.

She hated her mother at this point, but was too busy being grateful she wasn't mocking her about Seiko. Naomi nodded, not really being able to find her voice. Natsumi accepted it, and left, mumbling about how she wanted a normal daughter, and for all it was worth, for all she had been through, couldn't life at least give her a sane daughter?

Tears fell out Naomi's eyes as she watched her mother walk out the room and shut the door. Her words never made her feel any better about herself or what she had been through and what she had done. She threw her pillow across the room in anger, silently fuming. Her mother could never understand! She couldn't even begin to grasp what had happened to Naomi those past few weeks; she had killed her best friend! She saw more death than anyone should ever have to see, yet her mother didn't understand her. Of course, she wouldn't believe her, but Naomi still felt her mother could be a little more understanding.

Picking up the abused pillow, Naomi put it back where it belonged and began to get dress. She sniffled at the thought of what awaited her at school, but put her bag on anyway. Soon enough, she was out the door, trying to face the reality she wasn't ready for.

* * *

**A/N: We have now entered the other reality I have created and will be using. Basically, this is the canon universe. And it's the aftermath of HH, obviously. So here is the Naomi side of things...I know I portrayed Natsumi a little funny, but that's because in my very fuzzy memory of when I watched the livestream of BD, Natsumi was a jerk towards Naomi. I remember her yelling, but that may be just me. (That was so long ago and such a long day, too). So yeah, enjoy this chapter!**


	10. Bitter

Satoshi would admit that he was never a top student, or even a model student; he was average, at best, and he had the grades to show for that. He never got in serious trouble, but was occasionally reprimanded for making jokes with Yoshiki once in awhile; today, however, he was in serious danger of being sent out the classroom. Besides not paying attention, he had disrupted the class with an outburst accusing Yamazaki-sensei of not being their teacher, and furthering insulting him by dismissing his teachings. Frustrated at his unusually rude student, Hajime was about ready to write him up before another student of his stood up for him.

"Uh, Yamazaki-sensei, Satoshi's not really himself today, so could you please excuse him?" Kishinuma Yoshiki stood up to defend his best friend from trouble, and he watched their teacher frown. "Kishinuma, please take a seat. And why should that be any excuse for him bluntly disrespecting me and disrupting our lesson?" Yoshiki stayed standing, having a feeling that he would be dismissed if he sat. "Lately, Satoshi has been having family problems that he didn't really want to talk about. The family loss coupled with the stress of the situation is really taking a toll on him."

Satoshi watched as Yoshiki lied to their teacher, hiding a small smile from everyone as he watched his friend finally sit. "Mochida." He turned his attention to his short teacher. "I'll let it slide, but try and take out your frustrations a different way, if you don't mind." Satoshi nodded, and the moment Yamazaki turned around, he shot his blonde best friend a huge grin.

* * *

After school, Satoshi, Naomi, Ayumi, and Yoshiki met up in front of the gates. Yoshiki groaned, slumping his shoulders, causing Ayumi to glare at his obnoxious action. He shrugged and she gave up.

"Mochida-kun, what was that earlier?" Satoshi looked at Ayumi and shook his head. "I don't know, I just..." A sad look filled the chestnut-haired boy's eyes and he looked down at the ground. The other three in the group followed his action. Yoshiki put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "He's not Yui-sensei, I know, but at least he's not a replacement." He finished his statement bitter, referring to the new assistant that was supposed to start in 2 weeks.

Naomi gripped her sleeve tightly. "Guys, maybe we should leave the school. There's not a lot of people around right now." Being near the school reminds of her what happened, and Ayumi nodded in agreement. "Time to go home." Naomi froze. "A-actually...class rep?" Ayumi stopped walking and looked at Naomi. "C-can I come over? I kind of don't want to go home."

"Of course, Nakashima. Come on, then, let's stop by the store for a few snacks and then we'll head to my house." Naomi jogged to where Ayumi was, and they began walking towards Ayumi's home. Yoshiki and Satoshi began walking on their route home. Normally, it was the two of them walking, and the girls went separate ways. "Oh, Satoshi, I have work today, so if you want to still come over it would have to be later."

Satoshi nodded. "Just give me your keys and I'll wait for you there." The blonde gave him a skeptical look, with a raised eyebrow. Satoshi defensively held his hands up in the air. "What? I won't steal from you." Yoshiki laughed, "Yeah, I know, there's nothing for you to steal from me anyways." He dug in his pocket and handed his keys to Satoshi.

"Just remember to be awake when I get back!" He called out, already halfway down the block and almost around the corner. Satoshi gave him a thumbs up and began his walk to his best friend's apartment.

* * *

**A/N: *Gasp* Two in one day?! What is this?! It's me being nice~! That and I had these two chapters uploaded from another story I was going to post. There were 4 chapters total from that, but I don't know if I'll use them. So we're still in the 'canon' universe. I'll let you know when we're out and back into the main storyline setting. It'll be an interesting transition too, I promise! SO now that there are two chapters, I expect more reviews? Maybe? Yes? No? Up to you guys, although if it were up to me, I would have too many to count because this story is so awesome! Hope you enjoyed! **


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